Ben McNamara

Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey since Top Designs

I am a professional travel photographer and filmmaker. A lot of my work has a focus on documenting important indigenous stories and culture in some of the most remote communities in the world.

After Top Designs I was offered a scholarship at the Australian Academy of Design for a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design. After my second year, I decided to change my course and head to Ghana, West Africa. There I began some humanitarian work in a street kids soccer academy. In the final months of university, I was selected for a four-month internship at a design school in South Africa.

After working for a year with the Homeless World Cup (a side initiative of The Big Issue Australia), I was craving to get back into the creative life so I returned to university to do a master’s degree in film and TV. This period set me up with enough contacts to kickstart my career and gave me sustainable freelance work for the years to follow.

My love for travel never left and my film and photography career began very slowly and humbly. At around age 27 I decided to start a travel brand with my girlfriend, which combined my creative career with my love for travel. I am now 33, a three-time finalist in the National Photographic Portrait Prize and have worked with some of my favorite brands on earth. I feel very fortunate to have a true love of what I do, while continuing to challenge myself all the time.

Do you feel that Top Designs had an impact on your personal/professional development?

Top Designs taught me how paramount my ideas were. My design skills were OK, but my conceptual approach to storytelling and communicating an idea is where I found true value. Being surrounded by such talented students inspired me to communicate more effectively and showed me how big the potential in design was – it was an incredible first step into the professional creative world.

What is your design philosophy?

Good design is good communication. Be clear and direct. My main passion is to tell real stories in a cinematic but honest way.

All my work is trying to communicate an idea – sometimes complex and sometimes simple. Every decision I make along the process I ask myself, ‘Is this strengthening or weakening what I am trying to say?’ Sometimes making something more beautiful and aesthetic goes against the core idea. Identify that and hold yourself accountable and to a higher standard.

Do you have any advice for people wanting to work in your field?

Back yourself but be humble. Learn what you can from anyone you can, but don’t ever rely on anyone else. No-one is more invested in your success than you, and to think that someone is going to pull you to the top is unrealistic.

Fail. A lot, but don’t let your ego stop you from trying again.

Be really kind to people. Your work is important, but your relationships and communities are more important. You don’t need to be ruthless to succeed.

What are your future goals?

To tell stories better. To enjoy the process and be proud of the projects I work on. I compromised my stability and financial security for 15 years in order to be proud and happy with the work I created. I evolved as an artist and a human in the process – doing that will always be my priority.